Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. -- Syracuse has lost one of its top prospects..

Malik Brown, a three-star prospect at defensive end, chose Tennessee over Syracuse and South Florida in a whirlwind recruiting process that was all but over until former SU head coach Doug Marrone left for the National Football League. The day that news was reported, phone calls flooded in from "five or six different coaches from five or six different colleges," he said.

He said Wednesday that his decision to flip to Tennessee was based almost entirely on the coaching change.

Malik Brown SignsMalik Brown, one of Syracuse's most coveted recruits, decided on Wednesday that he'll play football at Tennessee. He had verbally committed to Syracuse before Doug Marrone left for the Buffalo Bills.

As January progressed, the trio of schools whose hats sat before Brown in the media center at Dwyer High School emerged as the serious contenders. While Syracuse and new head coach Scott Shafer attempted to hang on to the verbal pledge Brown made in December, Tennessee swooped in and tried to lure him away.

The Volunteers sent four coaches to his house in Riviera Beach at the same time, convincing Brown to at least take an official visit to Knoxville, which he did in late January. He found himself in awe of Neyland Stadium and the Vol Walk, wowed by the fan base that he described as "ridiculous" and superior to that of Syracuse.

In response, Syracuse was awarded the last in-home visit, and Shafer sent his defensive coordinator and linebackers coach to Florida with a PowerPoint presentation that laid out their football and philosophical ideologies.

Brown's recruitment was, essentially, a race. It was a battle to see which school could construct relationships the fastest, which coaches could step in and create the bonds he lost with the departures of Marrone, John Anselmo and Steve Morrison.

Malik Brown with his parents, Gwen and Mark, after he selected Tennessee over Syracuse on signing day WednesdayMichael Cohen / syracuse.com

It was such a tough decision for Brown that even as of 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday his mind was not made up. A roundtable discussion took place between Brown, his parents and his brother, Mark, who plays football for New Mexico State and was brought in on speakerphone.

They used the checklist Mark Brown created back in November to weigh the facts against one another. All throughout the recruiting process he had interviewed coaches rather than the other way around. He knew the questions he wanted to ask, and he ran the show during home visits.

So when the resumes were compared and the schools analyzed side-by-side, Tennessee proved to be the most attractive. Tennessee's Butch Jones succeeded in wooing Brown, proving that he and his staff built the strongest relationships.